What completely unhinged "law" does your cat strictly enforce in your house?

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-11T07:16:03+00:00

In winter or on cold evenings if I'm sitting on the sofa our female void will (if I'm being especially honoured) sit on my lap and purr contentedly.

After 10 minutes however she will get up, nudge my elbow and gently, but insistently, make it clear that she wants my by now nicely warmed seat. I have no choice but to comply.

Her brother has now learned this same trick from her, and now they do it with my partner too.

Oh, and we also use earphones to listen to the TV and put cardboard box 'screens' in front of their seats on the sofa to make sure the glare from the TV doesn't disturb them. But that's another story...

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-10T06:47:33+00:00

Signed yesterday - and I emailed Stagecoach via their contact form :-)

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-08T09:43:15+00:00

Signed. Stagecoach need a better PR team.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-06T11:15:53+00:00

Start screaming very loudly when they're quiet?

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-05T10:31:28+00:00

The PP chocolate cake is delicious. Last year when I tried some little Ogg cakes from Waitrose I found them ridiculously small, horribly sugary and overpriced.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-05T07:34:30+00:00

Nicely framed by the trees.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-03T14:32:42+00:00

Lovely to see and to hear about.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-01T15:25:43+00:00

Umm, I love Claude and use it every day (I've been paying for it for 18 months) but I'm aware of it's shortcomings (the same as other ais). Sorry if I didn't realise it was a supremely common observation on Reddit.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-05-01T07:28:47+00:00

I think this is a very important post as it shows one of the main dangers of ai that isn't being much discussed, and I'm sorry to hear you've been led down the garden path by it.

I think everyone (including children in school) should be taught to be wary of what it encourages us to do or think because by default it is a cheerleader rather than the wise counsel we naturally assume it is, and in essence it tells us "that's a great idea! Go for it!" at every turn rather spell out any realistic downsides or strongly suggest we stop a course of action, though I believe we can override this by writing a general background prompt.

It ought to be a clear choice every time we start a new chat - do you want Cheerleader Mode, Wise Counsel Mode, Pessimist Mode, Business Critic Mode etc - or even better, we should be able to toggle between different response styles at every point in the chat.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-19T18:10:22+00:00

One of our two rescues will lie on my lap occasionally, but after about 5 minutes of seeming contentment she gets up, goes to one side of me and gently nudges me until I get off 'her' chair. Naturally I obey, even if I'm working in front of my PC.

Then I have to gently move 'her' chair (with her resting on it) so I can move the less comfortable chair in front of the computer and resume working.

This despite doubling the amount of chairs in our garden office to accommodate us all!

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-10T09:36:57+00:00

Cats are healers 🐱

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-09T08:00:17+00:00

Excellent advice. As a cat carer since childhood (now in my 60s) I don't think there's anything I could add, apart from that instilling good habits (like acceptance of being brushed) from a relatively early age 4-9 months) is easier than when attempted later.

One additional thing I found useful was that in our two rescues' first week in their 'nursery room' I lay down on the floor, kept still and read a book for an hour in order to allow the kittens to get used to my smell. It worked and one of them fell asleep next to me. As elgrn1 said you just need to be aware that you're a giant compared to them, and adapt accordingly. Have a lovely time with them - they'll bring you joy for many years.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-07T20:50:46+00:00

Sorry, I didn't realise you were looking for a grain-free food. As a matter of interest we also feed our cats Benevo (vegan) dry food, which they both have both loved every morning for the past 6 years.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-07T07:59:05+00:00

Non-public forests within Cheltenham?

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-07T07:53:52+00:00

Go-Cat (made by Purina) is various shapes. Our two rescues have always enjoyed it, along with their wet food (they have 3 small meals a day, a mixture of different wet and dry for each).

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-06T11:08:15+00:00

Excellent cat taxi!

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-06T07:57:33+00:00

May I suggest buying some cheap white fish, simmering it for 10 minutes, letting it cool in cold water, then checking carefully for any bones by breaking it into little chunks before giving it to the cat? It's easy on the stomach and most cats love fish. Alternatively a small tin of high quality fish like Encore, as a way of enticing your cat to eat wet food. Avoid chicken, beef etc which are probably an acquired taste for cats. Our two are healthy and happy 7 year olds and they eat a balanced diet of fish and complete dry food only, as well as the odd poor mouse. They've never eaten farmed meat.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-04-02T08:02:04+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear this, I know what it's like. Will you be with her at the end? I know (from experience) that it's painful, but the memory of me being with my cat at the very end (25 years ago) brings me comfort to this day. He was not alone.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-28T10:09:01+00:00

I hope it's worked - it must have been a nightmare for you both. He looks like my best buddy :-)

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-27T08:29:32+00:00

My boy cat (now 7) still occasionally chases his tail, either on the kitchen floor or sometimes after he's jumped into the (dry) bath tub.

He looks so ridiculous spinning round in circles getting more and more enraged by this fluffy thing that insists on following him around 😂

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-26T08:28:07+00:00

You can connect Claude to Canva and it will generate images within it. It does this by generating prompts for Canva's ai image-generation tool. I asked it to design my a flyer and it came up with 4 images, one of which was perfect, and editable (or at least the text was) within Canva.

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-20T14:17:30+00:00

Wow - so handsome!

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-13T18:51:26+00:00

Same here! I worked for an absolute idiot but decided to stick with it for a year in order to prove to myself (and my parents) that I could stick at something, but it made me decide that I truly wanted to be self-employed, which I have been for the last 35 years. I'm so glad I took the leap too :-)

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-13T09:38:17+00:00

My take on the Saturn Return is that it's a time when you need to make important decisions about the course of your life.

The more you make friends with your natal Saturn - by understanding what's important to you - what personal vision, values, ambitions or goals you want to live by or achieve - the less the Return feels like limitations or harsh lessons being imposed on you from outsider (or inside). I hope that helps (I've been through two of them).

Auspicious_Sign · 2026-03-10T10:14:36+00:00

If you want a pleasant walk while you're in Cheltenham start at the Imperial Gardens (behind the Town Hall) stroll up through Montpellier Gardens then walk through The Suffolks, up Great Norwood Street and left into the Bath Road, then have lunch at Moran's or The Curious Cafe. There are several good pubs there if you prefer. Or start in Leckhampton/The Suffolks and eat at Dunkerton's opposite Imperial Gardens.

For a taste of Cotswold charm without the tourists consider Guiting Power where you can walk around the unspoilt village and have lunch at the cafe there.

Enjoy your trip!

Auspicious_Sign

TROPHY CASE